README                        TkDesk 1.1                        08.09.1998
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

       TkDesk - a Desktop and File Manager for UNIX's running X11

       
Changes since pre1.0:

   What was pre1.0, you may wonder.  Well, I put out pre1.0 in February
   this year as a preparation for 1.0.  I didn't officially announce it
   in the usual channels, and intended to release the "final" 1.0 very
   shortly after pre1.0.  As you might know, this has never happened...
   So, as quite some time has gone by since then and a few features 
   were added (see below), I'm giving this release the 1.1 version
   number.  Another hope is that this version might be used also by
   people who traditionally refrain from using any software with a
   "dot zero" version number ;-).  So here goes:

   o Improved communication between TkDesk server and client
   o Full keyboard navigation (well, pretty much at least)
   o Improved the appbar's dial-up button
   o Several bug fixes
   o TkDesk now is Year 2000 safe!
   o A "real" static version should resolve problems with outdated
     shared libc's (specifically on RedHat Linux 5.0 systems).
   o An updated User Guide (Postscript, HTML, and plain text).

   Unfortunately, there is also some bad news: TkDesk still does not
   support Tcl/Tk 8.0.  This is mainly because of lack of time, and
   partly because [incr Tcl], that's used by TkDesk, is only since last
   week available for Tcl/Tk 8.0 as an extension.  For the next release
   of TkDesk support of Tcl/Tk 8.0 and [incr Tcl] 3.0 is definitely
   top priority.

   The good news is though that it's not a problem to have both Tcl/Tk 8.0
   and Tcl 7.6/Tk 4.2 that is required by TkDesk installed on the same
   machine, you just need to choose different installation directories.
   You'll find more on this in the file INSTALL that comes with TkDesk.

      
What is TkDesk?

   TkDesk is a graphical desktop and file manager for several types
   of UNIX (such as Linux) and the X Window System.  It offers a very
   rich set of file operations and services, and gives the user the
   ability to configure most aspects of TkDesk in a powerful way.  The
   reason for this is the use of Tcl/Tk as the configuration and (for
   the biggest part of TkDesk) implementation language.

   This is a brief overview of the most prominent features of TkDesk:
 
   o Arbitrary number of automatically refreshed file browsers and file
     list windows,
   o Configurable file-specific popup-menus,
   o Drag and drop,
   o Keyboard navigation,
   o Files and directories may also be dropped onto the root window,
   o Configurable application bar, with several displays and cascadable
     popup menus for each button, files can also be dropped here,
   o History of visited directories, opened files, executed commands
     and many other things, which is automatically saved to disk,
   o Find files through their annotation, name, contents, size or age,
   o Trash can for safe "deletion" of files and directories,
   o Calculation of disk usage for directory hierarchies,
   o All file operations (find, copy, disk usage, etc.) are carried out
     in the background,
   o Traversal of directory hierarchies through recursive cascaded menus,
   o Bookmarks, create menu entries for often used files/directories,
   o Comprehensive hypertextish online help,
   o Built-in multi-buffer editor, providing virtually unlimited undo,
   o Remote control of Netscape and Emacs/XEmacs,
   o Sound support,
   o Powerful on-the-fly configuration of nearly all aspects of TkDesk
     using Tcl/Tk, allowing for unlimited extensibility,
   o Free of charge! But see the file COPYING, or menu entry
     Help/License for information on usage and redistribution of TkDesk.
   o TkDesk is free software, as defined by the GNU General Public License.

How do I install TkDesk?

   See the file INSTALL for instructions on how to install TkDesk.
   Usually the steps are: Install Tcl/Tk 7.6/4.2 if you don't have it,
   and then run "./configure", "make", and "make install".

Is there a Web page for TkDesk?

   Yes, please take a look at:
   http://people.mainz.netsurf.de/~bolik/tkdesk/

   Latest bug fixes, new versions and (in the future) binaries will be
   available first from there, or from the TkDesk mailing list.  You may
   also find some additional icons for use with TkDesk here, so make
   sure you stop by!

Oh, there is a mailing list for TkDesk?

   Yes there is, thanks to Alan Shackelford.
   To subscribe, please send an email to majordomo@shaknet.clark.net
   with an empty subject, and the body "subscribe tkdesk".  There is
   also an archive of this list available on the web at
   http://www.findmail.com/list/tkdesk
   
   
Hope you enjoy TkDesk!

     Christian  (Christian.Bolik@mainz.netsurf.de)